"It
paints a detailed picture of Europe's
18th-century period that could have been drawn
by master painters such as Constable,
Gainborough and Watteau."

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

It's adapted from William Thackeray's obscure first
novel, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq., by
director-writer Stanley Kubrick ("The Killing"/"The
Shining"/"A Clockwork Orange"). It fared poorly at the
box-office upon its release and received mixed
reviews, but it has gained in reputation in recent
times and remains one of Kubrick's better and most
underrated films.

The cinematography by John Alcott is sensational and
gives the film its elegant look (it was shot on
location in England, Ireland and Germany). It paints a
detailed picture of Europe's 18th-century period that
could have been drawn by master painters such as
Constable, Gainborough and Watteau. It's a sumptuous
costume movie that tells both an adventure story and
one that's a comedy of manners, that goes at a
leisurely pace for three hours. The titular hero is an
18th-century Irish gentleman, born Redmond Barry but
later upon marriage his name is changed to Barry
Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal), whose lawyer father was killed
in a duel over horses and mom refused to remarry
devoting her life to raising her son and preserving
the saintly memory of her husband. The film follows
the up and down fortunes of Barry throughout his
adventurous life. It's given an air of importance by
the sober narration throughout by Michael Hordern.

The good-natured Redmond falls in love with his
pretty cousin Nora Brady (Gay Hamilton), only her
family wants her to marry the more mature and more
economically sound Englishman, the army Captain Quin
(Leonard Rossiter). He earns a good income and
promised to pay off a loan her father owes. The
stubborn, impoverished lad refuses to accept her
rejection and tosses wine in Quin's face. A duel is
arranged, and he believes he has killed Quin. His
friend Captain Grogan was his second and is his best
friend, arranges for him to flee to Dublin. What Barry
doesn't know is that he didn't kill Quin, as the duel
was rigged to get him out of the way so as not to
interfere with the marriage. With Barry gone, Nora
marries Quin. On the way to Dublin, in the woods,
Barry's robbed of everything by father and son
highwaymen, Captain Feeney and Seamus. With that
unfortunate incident, young Redmond enlists in the
army. After experiencing the horrors of combat in the
Seven Years' War he will later try to escape. Barry
seizes the moment by stealing the identity papers of
an army officer courier who is swimming with his male
lover and goes AWOL only to get caught as a poser by
the clever Prussian, Captain Potzdorf (Hardy Kruger),
and he's forced to enlist in the Prussian army. The
Prussian army is even worse than the British one.
Taking advantage of being assigned to be a spy for
Potzdorf, Barry instead takes up with the fellow he
was supposed to rat out, his fellow Irishman, the
Chevalier de Balibari (Patrick Magee). At last he
escapes the army and begins a profitable career
throughout Europe as a gambler, thanks to his new
friend's gambling skills. Barry eventually decides he
needs a title and marries the wealthy and young
English countess Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson) when
her elderly husband Sir Charles Lyndon (Frank
Middlemass) dies suddenly of a stroke. But Barry
squanders the Lyndon family fortune and her son, Lord
Builingdon (Leon Vitali), is so filled with hatred for
his stepdad that he blocks his attempt to buy the
title of Lord. It climaxes with a duel between Barry
and Lord Builingdon that milks all the emotions it can
from the suspenseful scene.

It's an epic film that has much to say about class
privileges and comes with an admirable story about the
opportunistic titled character of dubious morals, and
his growing cynical reactions to the cold world as he
overreaches to better himself. It also makes for a
terrific watch as it traverses lush landscapes and
sighs as deeply as the ladies with those heaving
bosoms. The handsome heartthrob, Ryan O'Neal, acts
robotic but is useful to Kubrick as the puppet he can
manipulate at will. He's teamed with supermodel Marisa
Berenson, beautifully adorned in costumes and wigs,
who is even more limited as an actor. Nevertheless
they both fit well into the picture, as they both look
great and make pretty music together.